melanie jean juneau

I once asked a priest what my life would have been like if I had not suffered or if I had married a well-off dentist, had 1.75 kids and lived in a nice house. He put on a phony, pious face, with his hands together in prayer and said in a high, sweet voice,

‘Oh, you would be a nice Christian lady, praising the Lord.’

What he meant by that amusing bit of acting was that I would be shallow, without depth and strength.

If that is the case, I say bring on the suffering because I want, no I need to live in reality. I refuse to simply play games during my time on earth.

I can think of no greater tragedy than to die and discover that I had deluded myself, simply living on the surface, eating, drinking, doing chores, sleeping and had missed out on the core reality of what it means to be fully alive, fully human, in relationship to other people and to God.

I want to live in CHRIST, COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED. I DO NOT WANT TO SIMPLY PLAY CHRISTIAN GAMES.

I was just thinking that I had not shared about my pain, struggle or suffering, only about the joy of mothering, the joy of living as a daughter of God. I friend also pointed out to me the other day that I never really talk about the long, dark periods in my life.

I guess it is because joy always triumphs in the end in my life, I tend to forget about the painful years. The love of little people, strong tea, laughter and the Presence of God in the midst of chaos seems to crack anxiety and stress but yes, I have been shattered by the demands of mothering .

Yet God always manages to use those moments when I am shattered to crack my heart and soul open to more of His presence and healing. It is like childbirth, the pain is forgotten when I hold my newborn but on the other the hand if there is no pain, there is no baby or new growth in the Spirit.

For me God speaks through books as well as my spiritual director and the written word has often changed my life, flipped an inner switched by bringing insight and clarity.

I realize that each difficult stage in mothering is normal, not a big deal because all mothers go through similar experiences.

So I am not going through a big crisis. I can see each difficult stage is a call from God to change and grow by going deeper, accessing the strength of the Holy Spirit within my own heart.

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Published by melanie jean juneau

Melanie Jean Juneau serves as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Stand. She is a mother of nine children who has edited her kid's university term papers for over a decade. She blogs at joy of nine9 and mother of nine9. Her writing is humorous and heart warming; thoughtful and thought-provoking. Part of her call and her witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life. Melanie is the administrator of ACWB, a columnist at CatholicLane, CatholicStand, Catholic365 , CAPC, author of Echoes of the Divine and Oopsy Daisy, and coauthor of Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood.
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